Paper fastener



Aug. 2, 1938. a HUNT 2,125,724

PAPER FASTENER Filed March 27, 1935 M fizz/amid 660/3963 Hun/22 Patented Aug. 2, 1938 PATENT OFFICE PAPER FASTENER George B. Hunt, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Shaw-Walker Company, Muskegon, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application March 27, 1935, Serial No. 13,195

- 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in paper fasteners primarily intended for folders and the like, and moreparticularly to a novel follower or pressure plate to be used in connection with and a part of a complete fastener.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved pressure plate applicable to a so-called single prong fastener of the type disclosed in the patent to Russell G. Bourdon dated May '7, 1935, I

No. 2,000,059. r

A further object of the invention is to provide a pressure plate so designed as to serve as a template for facilitating the operation of entering the contents into a folder and of insuring their orderly arrangement therein.

The novel features of the invention are disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a folder showing the contents fastened therein.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the follower plate embodying the template feature.

Figure 3 is a View in side elevation of the same plate.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the op- 5 eration of the pressure plate as a template.

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view showing the contents impaled on the prong of the fastener.

Figure 6 is a View in vertical section as taken on line 6-45 of Figure 5, but with the prong bent 30 down into holding position.

As shown in Figure 1, the completely assembled file consists of a folder I having two sections divided by a center fold line, a single prong 2 secured at the upper left-hand corner of the 35 right-hand or back section of the folder, the folder contents 3 consisting of a plurality of sheets of correspondence or like filed matter, and the follower plate 4 applied tothe fastener 2 and bearing upon the contents.

40 The folder I may be of any standard size and make and made of any suitable material such as a heavy grade of manila or other paper. In fact,

a single sheet known as a folder-back may serve in place of a folder. The fastener proper 2 as well as the plate 4 are stampings of thin sheet metal, the former being characterized by a single broad pointed prong 2 having a base plate 2 which is attached fiatwise to the folder.

50 The fastener is arranged diagonally of the corner of the section of the folder to which it is directly attached, that is, symmetrically with respect to a line bisecting the corner angle and at a distance from the apex thereof so that the tip 55 of the prong in its bent-over or fastening position substantially coincides with the corner of the contents 3, as shown in Figure 1.

The base plate 2 of the fastener need not be confined to any particular shape or attached to the folder in any particular manner for the pur- 5 pose of the present disclosure, although it is shown as generally oval in shape and provided with several short marginal prongs 2 by which the fastener is secured by inserting the prongs through the folder from the underside and then 10 bending over the shorter prongs 2 after the base plate is brought up flush against the back of the folder. If desired, the folder may be made up with slits for the prongs, thus enabling the user to apply the fasteners when and as needed, 15 although for the purpose of this disclosure, it will be assumed that the folder is made up complete with the fastener in the predetermined position already indicated.

Now, having applied the fastener to the folder, 20 it is apparent that the sheets constituting the contents of the folder are entered by impaling them one or more at a time upon the upstanding prong, their upper left-hand corners being pierced diagonally so as to locate them symmetrically and evenly in the folder, that is, with their edges parallel with and spaced inwardly from the corresponding edges of the folder.

But manifestly, without some mechanical aid, it would be a difficult matter to locate the exact point that the prong must pierce each sheet in order that it will be symmetrically positioned in the folder and likewise in alignment with the sheets already entered in the folder, since otherwise it would be largely a matter of guess-work unless or until the operator becomes proficient by practice.

It is, therefore, with the idea of facilitating the accurate and uniform piercing of the sheets to be entered in the folder that the novel form of follower plate has been devised. In its simplest form the follower plate is a flat piece of sheet metal having a slot 4 located at or near its center through which the prong 2 will pass. If desired, dome-like projections 4 4 may be pressed into the metal to include the ends of the slot, as an expedient for increasing the pressure exerted by the plate upon the folder contents when the prong is bent over into fastening position, and the tapered end portions beyond the slot turned up slightly as at 4, 4 so that the plate may be grasped more easily with the figures.

Now, in order to serve as a pressure or follower plate, the area of the plate need only be large 5 symmetrically with respect to its apex, that is, 7 a perpendicular line from the midpoint of theslot bisects the right angle formed by the other two edges. Thus it will be seen that with the fastener located on the folder so that the upstanding prong is fixed with relation to the upper right-hand corner of the-wfolder" section as: shown herein, the plate is dimensioned so that V when applied to the prong the edges thereof forming the right angled corner segment will extend parallel to the corresponding corner edges of the folder and spaced a predetermined distance inwardly therefrom. In other words, the plate becomes a template to determine the position of the contents within the folder. This will be apparent from the fact that if the plate were laid upona sheet of paper with its right angle segment registering with the corner edges of the sheet, the slot would mark the point at which the sheet would be penetrated by the prongin orderto assume the proper'position in the folder; And this is the manner in which the plate is manipulated as clearly shown in Figure 4. The plate is laid upon the corner of the sheet about to be entered in the folder with their corner edges in alignment, and then by holding them together with the fingers of both hands the two are presented to the pointed end of the prong with the plate on top, and when the slot is brought into register therewith, the plate 'ispressed down, thus piercing the sheet and threading the plate onto the prong at the same time. Thus by repeating this operation each time one or more sheets are entered in the folder, the marginal alignment of the sheets with each other as well as the predetermined position of the contents.

within the folder is maintained. By this method the folder and its contents are readily kept in an orderly manner, and with a little practice a filing clerk soon becomes expert in entering the sheets with the aid of the template.

If desired, the portion of the plate immediately adjacent its apex, may be bent at a slight angle to the remainder of the plate along a diagonal line 4' parallel with the slot 4* and in a downward direction, assumingthat the top side of the plate is determined by the dome-like projections 4*. The purpose of this downwardly bent corner segment is to increase the pressure exerted at-the extreme corner of the contents when the prong is'bent over into fastening position as shown in Figure 6. This added pressure, however, is not altogether essential, although it does tend .tochold the sheets more firmly in place. Having set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, I claim:

1. In afolder, the combination of a metal fastener mounted adjacent one corner of said folder, and comprising a: single wide prong coinciding with'a. line extending diagonally across said corner, and a follower plate having a centrally located slot adapted to receive said prong and a template portion, having straight edges meeting at a right angle bisected by a line perpendicular to saidslot whereby the placing of said follower plate uponthe corner of the sheets to be fastened with said template portion coinciding with the corner edges thereof, said prong 1 will be guided by'said slot to pierce said sheets at corresponding points- 2. In a folder, the combination of a fastener for bindingsheets therein comprising a single broad metal prong secured at one corner of said folder and coinciding with a line extending diagonally across said corner, a follower plate having a slot adapted to receive said prong, and a template portion having two of its meeting edges bearing the same relation tosaid slot as the corners of the sheets to be fastened. in said folder bear to the slits to be pierced therein by said prong when in vertical position, whereby on applying said follower plate to thesheets with said template'portion coinciding with the corners to be fastened, the same will be pierced at corresponding points as said prong passes through said slot.

GEORGE B. HUNT. 

